flood dz streets. water logged land and more and more rain. it is all a recipe for serious weather worries. i'm maureen umeh. topped has been a wash out and it's not just the gloomy conditions. there is a lot of worry about flooding. in western maryland fears are compounded by the fact that the snow is still melting there. gwen tolbart is live in the fox 5 weather center with conditions. >> reporter: this widespread rainfall causing a lot of problems. this is a huge massive system

that stretches back to the mississippi and all the way north to parts of new england. let's take a look at our fox 5 live doppler radar and show you exactly what's happening in our area. you can see areas to the north v d.c. and to the east getting a little bit of a break but to the west we have pretty heavy pockets. through front royal you can see pretty heavy rainfall and in through reston and areas to the north and east of that there are also heavier pockets of rainfall. as i said it is a massive system. let's take a look at truview. we're going to show you the whole expanding features of this thing. look as it pushes its way north to new england. to the south we still have rainfall to come through yet. some of you are getting a little bit of a break but be forewarned there is more to come and we are definitely not out of clear yet. as we go to the map let's take a quick look at where we have the flood watch. most of the area and that's in effect until sunday.

matt ackland is in old town alexandria. >> reporter: the rain started not too longing a, probably within the last -- long ago, probably within the last five minutes. alexandria police, we're standing along king drive, they shut this down because they are concerned about flooding. they really have a lot of flooding here earlier today. in fact it went up king street, came down with the tied but the potomac is rising and they're really concerned. 7:00 is supposed to be high tide. you can see the starbucks at this point. they're sandbagging in front of us. you might be able to notice further behind starbucks, the mai tai restaurant had some damage this morning because of all the water. let me walk out and show you how much water is coming in. when we arrived an hour ago none of this water was here but authorities are saying they're pushing

people back probably a half block more up king street. they say they're concerned about flooding right until about 8:00. then they think things should improve when the tide goes down here. that's the very latest. we'll have an update for you tonight at 10:00. >> if anyone is used to flooding it's those folks down there. we'll seeou again tonight. thanks for that. in the district it is more than the flooding that's got people worried here. trees are crashing down and power lines snapping. fox 5's karen chaern continues our team coverage. . >> grounds already water logged from winter snow storms got even soingier overnight and took down trees all around the district. like this one at the corner of cleveland avenue in northwest. >> it sounded like a sonic boom. >> reporter: megan labelle and her kids can't get over it. the tree snapped power lines sending a light pole crashing onto a car. >> it woke me up and i looked

out the window. we lost electricity immediately. >> reporter: neighbors came to gauk. utility crews were on the scene there and at argyle. pepco, dominion power and pg and e reported hundreds of outages. and there was flooding that made navigating streets difficult. like here at 15th and constitution. a flood watch means you shld watch o for flooding on small streams and creeks but the potomac river is affected. they even cut off access to the boardwalk here on the georgetown waterfront. of course there are always those folks who come out to enjoy nature even if the rain. jeffrey gilbert had planned to eat his lunch on the boardwalk. >> be careful because they're saying there is potential for. >> sharks? >> sea monsters? >>no. flooding. >> loch ness? >> let it go already.

>> reporter: karen gray houston, fox 5 news. remember you can always get updates on the website, flachz, warnings and the late -- flood watches, warnings and the latest conditions on myfoxdc.com. an update on the case of the prisoner who escaped from officers last week. terrence moore was supposed to be officially charged today but he wasn't in court because he's in the hospital. that's where he was taken when he escaped. investigators are trying on find out how he got out of his restraint. he is set to be charged with assault on a police officer, escape and pole violation. the details of his hospitalization have not been released. former secretary of state henry kissinger is in a south korean hospital. he went into the hospital this morning complaining of stomach pain. his doctors say he could be released tomorrow. kissinger was secretary of state for presidents nixon and ford. he is in south korea for a security conference. the battle over the health care bill continues to be fought on capital hill.

here's what's in the propos bill. 31 million people currently not insured would have coverage. you would be required to have insurance from your job or pay for it yourself unless you earn below a certain income level. there would be no more denials for preexisting conditions and the government could force insurance companies to lower premiums. those are a few of the highlights in the 2,000 page bill. fox's julie banderas has the latest on whether there is enough votes to get it passed. >> reporter: the president has been telephoning house and senate democrats all along. he still doesn't have the votes to push through his signature health care reform legislation. urged on by house speaker nancy pelosi and harry reid the president delayed by three days his trip overseas and cleared that time to lobby congress. speaker pelosi is reindicting passage in the next ten days but some house democrats who are still on on the fence say they're waiting to see official cost estimates before they have decide and insurance coverage for

abortion remains unresolved in the house. >> i think some of those people have come to the realization that they don't want to kill health care over something that we really can't do anything about right now. >> 640,000 people are out of work in ohio. >> reporter: the pressure is on for all house democrats who ved no on the last year. john pucheri is feeling the heat. >> i'm not afraid to cast a tough vote and stand up to leadership in doing so. > reporter: the senator from massachusetts accused president obama and democrats of conducting a bitter destructive drive to overhaul the nation's health care system >> the many members of congress, the time for choosing is near. do what the party leadership demands or do what the people have asked you to do. >> reporter: with a new vote deadline of march 21st the situation changes day-by-day. we learned friday that a big overhaul of the student loan program will now be included in the health care

package. not surprisingly, that college loan bill is popular with a lot of house democrats and could help them swallow the health care bill. in washington, julie kurtz, fox news. that student aid overhaul generates more budget savings and avoids a possible obstacle in the senate as democrats go forward with the plan to use budget reconciliation to get health care passed. you would think it was a plot to a comedy film if it weren't true. a funeral home vehicle towed with a body inside. find out exactly how it happened. should frederick county, maryland see seed and this become the 21st state in stay with us. we'll have that story in a moment president obama ready to leave behind the no child left behind plan. find out what he wants to do to change the way children learn. stick around. we are just getting started.



parents of students from hardy middle school don't want their principal removed so some of them braved the rain to hold a protest rally outside the home of d.c. school chancellor read. he is changing admissions procedures at haired the only middle school dedicated to a fine arts and music program. president obama wants to get rid of the no child left behind program. instead he is suggesting a new set of standards that he thinks will work better.

fox's rick levanthal lays out the plan in who would be held responsible for failing schools. >> reporter: president obama says it's time for change. out with his predecessor's no child left behind and in with a plan he says will prepare kids for a bright future. >> unless we take action, unless we step up, there are countless children who will never realize their full talent and potential. >> reporter: the president's plan includes increasing funding to schools by $4 billion. all students graduating from high school would need to be ready for college or a career by 20/20. and replacing proficiency tests with benchmarks that prepare kids for higher education. >> schools that achieve excellence or show real progress will be rewarded. >> reporter: it allows states to use subjects other than reading and math to measure students and for the nation's lowest performing schools the obama approach would be to fire the principal and teachers scoring in the lowest 5% of the country.

the med of the american federation of teachers saves this appears to place 100% responsibility on teachers and administrators while giving them zero % authority to act. one expert questions whether the president will stand his ground. >> will the unions let us discharge teachers that don't perform as well as others? repeatedly the obama administration has sided with unions and that has not been possible. >> reporter: president obama's proposal would set firmer nationwide goals for success, while allowing more latitude for how states reach those goals. his plan goes before the house education and labor committee wednesday. in new york, rick full balm, fox news. kids learn plenty about american history in school, including when the south threatened to seccede from the union. could that happen in one county in maryland? we'll explain. plus take a look at this. flooding in annapolis. this picture taken by our own tucker barns. gwen is coming back with the full forecast. ♪

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i a different kind of "american idol." they were auditioning to be the singer for the national anthem at the ballpark. auditions were also held for organ players. how cute is she? >> she's a future "american

idol". >> stars in the making. let us talk about this rain. i'm sure the plants are enjoying it but we are not. it's a little too much. >> i think it's too much all at once. >> exactly. it's like be careful what you ask for. we wanted the snow to get out of the way. and a little cleanup going with mother nature. >> it's causes problems. >> which is unfortunate. >> look at this shot. our own tucker barns sent it to us. it was tape in annapolis. he said this guy shouldn't have gone threw that water. that is a good peefs advice. do not go through any water that you see even though you may think it's just a little bit shallow and might not be too bad. it takes about a foot of water or so to sweep you totally off of your mark in driving. do be careful out there. let's begin with a look at fox 5 live doppler radar. you can see what we've got going on. a little heavier rainfall near reston. we've got a lot more near

front royal. we may be getting break in some of our neighborhoods right no but plenty to come. just be prepared for that. we're not quite out of the woods. some of you saw heavier to moderate rainfall earlier today. let's look at truview. we'll show you have the big picture because this heavy swath of rainfall well to the north is just pounding new england and that's just going to continue. this is actually a very massive system. which reaches all the way to the west and down south so for us, as i said, we're still not out of the clear. we have a fair amount of moisture that has to move through to the north and we're going to see this pick up again into the overnight hours so you may see little bit of a break but don't be too comfortable with it. it may not be as heavy but we expect to see more coming our way. let's go to our weather maps. we have flood watches and coastal flood warnings to tell you about. most of our entire area under a flood watch. in effect through sunday evening. that means the potential is there for some flooding,

creeks and some streams and even urban flooding as well so do be very careful out there. as i said don't take those low-lying areas for granted at all. we do have the flash flood watch in effect. we are expecting fog overnight if you are heading out for morning services, do be ca we are going to see the rain lasting into the early part of the week but there is some sunshine headed into the forecast so be very careful in the wet weather. these are a look at some of the numbers so far. these will increase. a half inch at national airport. less than a quarter at dulles. 2 and a quarter at baltimore airport so far. look at charlotte. just over a half inch there. 3/4 of an inch in martinsburg and just under half in hagerstown. mid-50s. low 50s. not too far off the mark.

right now temperature wise we're into the low 50s, upper 40s pretty much everywhere up the mi-atlantic. a little bit cooler. that is where the rain is pounding through the air. the higher visitations expect to see wet snow. winds were a big factor earlier. they've now improved. here's a look at future cast. the system is going to pull out as we head into sunday and by monday it will move right out into the atlantic. on the backside of it we still do expect to see wet weather. we're not looking at much sunshine in the forecast until probably tuesday. this is a very unwanted soaker. the flood watch in effect until tomorrow. overnight rainfall, light winds at 46. tomorrow we'll be heading to 53. still close to seasonable and don't forget that tonights the night where you have to make sure you set your clocks ahead an hour or otherwise you'll be late for whatever you're doing tomorrow. keep your umbrella handy. we're still dealing with the rain. might get a break between the morning and afternoon.

just a slight chance. a reminder to turn your clocks ahead one hour before you go to bed. so you'll be on time for tomorrow. the sunshine returns partially on tuesday. wednesday, thursday, with a ridge of high pressure and maureen, we're warming up. >> i'm a warm weather girl. any heat, bring to. it was a race against time for grandmother in colorado when her car was stolen, her granddaughter inside. the 6-year-old had to go along for the ride when the thief jumped in with the engine running. once he noticed the girl was in the back seat he jumped out and ran. the girl is fine but thief has not been caught. a funeral home vehicle towed with a body inside in new york city. the funeral director parked the minivan in a no parking zone in front of his building. the body was in a simple casket in the back. the next thing the funeral director knew the vaned body were at the impound lot. >> went back inside to get my paperwork to leave, took a

phone call and by the time i was finished with the phone call one of the fellows said they towed the car. you got to be kidding me. it's like anybody's reaction. you get that feeling up your spine, oh, no. but this is especially frightening because of the this situation. >> the funeral director says the fan was marked that it blovengd to the funeral home. he did get it back from the impound lot when he told police what happened. what would happen if part of maryland decided to become its own state? one local legislature thinks frederick county should do exactly that. john henrehan explains why. >> reporter: frederick county, maryland is both rural and urban. about 200,000 people live here. politically, frederick county is more conservative than maryland as a whole. in the last presidential election maryland went strongly for obama, but voters here in frederick county went more mccain. frederick county commissioner lenny thompson suggests local residents think about taking down the flag of maryland

and replacing it with a new state flag. he wants frederick county to consider formally withdrawing from the state of maryland. >> see session >> see session. at least looking at the legal and financial implications of it. >> reporter: here's the problem in commissioner thunderstorm son's view. the general assembly is come nated by urban and suburban legislators and has promised too much future benefits. >> we have an unfunded liability for retiree health care of state employee, retiree benefits that's over 15 billion. all told that's $32 billion in unfunded liability that is more or less just simply being ignored. >> reporter: so if the state leg texture keeps piling up the -- legislature keeps piling up the debt, he wants residents to consider

cessasion. >> i think we'll be better off if we stay in the state of maryland. >> i like maryland. >> it doesn't seem like frederick is being enough to be its own state. >> i think it's silly. >> reporter: commissioner lenny thompson may have another tough selling job. he wants to name frederick county after the old name, president franklin del for roosevelt called camp david, shangri la. >> it brings a more eye dill i can paradise tomorrow. >> frederick county is a nice place sororitying from what may some day the state of shangri la, john henrehan, fox 5 news. a decision on ceseding could come as early as next week. lindsay murphy is up next with sports. e love economics study group.

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any topping is just ten dollars. meat lover's, supreme pan pizza...whatever we want. it's crazy. ♪ what's even crazier? ♪ i'm not even in economics this semester. [ male announcer ] right now, any pizza at pizza hut is just $10. any pizza, any size, any crust, and any toppings -- for only $10. only at your pizza hut. good evening, i'm lindsay murphy. georgetown hit a little speed bump toward the end of the regular season dropping four of the last six games and falling from 7th to 22nd in the rankings but the hoyas stepped it up in the big east tournament and are staring at the championship game tonight 9:00 against we have wechlt it is a position the seem is familiar with. this is the third time in the past four years they have made it to the tournament title game. georgetown did a little bit of everything last night in a win over marquette they shot 54% and beat the golden eagles on the board.

this team is running on all cylinders. >> we have improved as the year has gone on. we are healthy right now. and the guys have been extremely unselfish. they've done a terrific job of knowing and finding where we may or may not have an advantage and trying to exploit that. >> one thi that is very evident is our chemistry is strong. we're hitting our stride at the right time and doing what we have to do to get wins. that's the name of the game right now. >> reporter: maryland's case was the opposite. the team was hot, having one seven straighten route to a title. they were at the top of the game with graves vasquez and gary williams but somehow the air in the balloon deflated as they got off to a slow start againstgeorgia tech. they shot 29% and found themselves in a 16 point

hole. despite a great second half come back it was never enough to continue play in the acc tournament. >> a bunch of chances, i miss the 3, in and out. and a bunch of guys mittsing shots we usually make. it's a little frustrating when you use that much energy to get back into the game and get 2 points and can't get over the top. >> reporter: today's action, accz i finals, 12th seated time taking on duke. malcolm grant dialing from way long distance. the hurricanes had a surprise #3g point lead at the half but the second half duke takes over. off the miami turn over john shires to nolan smith. duke over miami, 77-74. advancing to its 29th acc tournament final. tomorrow's acc championship game wil be between the winner of state and duke. tip-off scheduled for 1:00

p.m. [ the redskins have decided to keep offensive lineman will montgomery around but terms of his deal have not been disclosed. montgomery is a four year veteran who appeared in all 16 game last season. starting 3 at guard. the big talk is the signing of runningback larry johnson. the biggest name brought in during the free agency period. he last rushed for 1,000 yards in 2006. he is expected to complement clinton portis. speaking of portis, mike shan, do you expect him to be part of the off season conditioning starting on monday? >> i guarantee he'll be there. i know clinton too well. he'll be there and he'll kick off the season on a right note. i want my leaders to be there and hopefully we'll have 1 hundreds % participation. if not i'll be disappointed. >> do you fore see albert being there? >> that's 100%. >> better show up. >> reporter: this afternoon, --

back to you ladies on the desk. a lot going on weather wise. one last weather word. >> we have a flood watch in effect until sunday evening so we're keeping an eye on this. plenty of rainfall still in the forecast. do be careful out there. fog into tomorrow morning as well and coastal flood warnings. >> that does it for us at 6:00. we're back torn at 10:00 and "news edge" at 11:00. hope you are too. good-bye.   o